NEC Jazz Composers' Workshop Orchestra

Harry Pershing | Wish You Well

Program note

There are so many friends I’ve lost touch with over the years. Sometimes, one of us moves, or leaves the job we had together, or we just sort of… drift apart. It’s normal, not all friendships are meant to last, but it’s still sad. However, every once in a while, through a chance encounter or a social media post, I get some good news about an old acquaintance. I find out they’ve got a new job, or they’re going back to school, or they got freaking married! It’s so great to know that even though they’ve been written off of the sitcom of my life, they’re still out there, vibing, surviving, and/or thriving. So this is a song I wrote for all of those old friends who’re still out there, living their lives. It’s all my congratulations and well wishes wrapped up into one cheesy little waltz.                                                                                        
– Harry Pershing

Domenico Botelho | Samaria

Joseph Borsellino III | The Lalibalotch Sings at Dawn

Program note

The piece is a collage of compositional ideas and personal experiences that began for me this fall semester. The twelve-tone melody was written during a healthy diet of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn earlier this year. The influx of Ethiopian-modal melodies and triple rhythms come from my enduring love and respect for Ethiopian music that began when I was 16, and through recent fellowship with my friend, Danny Mekonnen of Boston's Debo Band. The piece really began to take shape after finding a subject to inspire its darker hues and aesthetics: my own battle with COVID-19 this past September. While researching Ethiopian culture in my isolation, I came across a passage about the "Lalibalotch," an ancient castigated community of lepers who were known to sing mournful songs at dawn, despite there being no surviving recordings or documents of their music. I liked the theme and went with it.                                                                                                                      
– Joseph Borsellino

Hunter McKay | Wicked Weird

Program note

WARNING: Wicked Weird is an experimental composition. 
Please read this consent form carefully.  It tells you important information about the experiment.
Key Information:
Taking part in this experiment is up to you.  The following key information is to help you decide whether to take part.
Why is this experiment being done?
This experiment is intended to explore intervals and harmonies outside of the standard 12 chromatic pitches.  Rather than dividing the octave into twelve equal divisions, the scale used for this experiment divides the octave into eight equal divisions.
What will happen if you take part in this experiment?
The ensemble will use improvised and aleatoric techniques to express various intervallic and harmonic progressions derived from this eight note scale.  Through improvisation, soloist Joey Dies (trombone) and Garrett Frees (tenor sax) will test for melodic possibilities within the textures of the piece.  You, the audience, (hereafter referred to as “subjects”) will be asked to assess for yourself what moods, atmospheres, emotions, images, or narratives are brought to mind by these unusual sonorities.
How long will this experiment last?
Approximately 7 minutes.
Why might you choose to take part?
Why not?
Potential risks:
•Exposure to microtones
•Some subjects have reported developing Boston and/or Downeast accents when pronouncing the title of this composition
•Improvisation is an unpredictable art form.  The New England Conservatory is not responsible for the musical decisions of individual improvisors.       
– Hunter McKay

Griffin Woodard | Completion

Program note

I wrote Completion in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. The title refers to the state of being spiritually strong and whole, regardless of the challenging circumstances of life. Although this is an instrumental arrangement, the melody is set to lyrics based on Psalm 27, "The Lord is My Light."                         
– Griffin Woodard

George Behrakis | Three Short Ragtime Allusions

Limping Trot
Slow Drag
Fast Dance

Program note

This piece pays homage to ragtime, an early 20th century musical style which was deeply influential to the development of African-American improvised music (or what is colloquially referred to as 'jazz'). Ragtime's cardinal trait is its syncopated, or "ragged" rhythm, which gives it a propulsive character unheard of in the musical styles that preceded it. The polyrhythms created by the juxtaposition of these syncopated rhythms and the much "straighter" rhythmic structures found in American march music represents one of the first widely documented influences of African musical traditions on American popular music. This influence, which ingrained ragtime into American popular music culture, also led to the development of subsequent musical traditions, such as stride piano, that helped to build the foundation of what is broadly considered to be "jazz" today.
          With these three pieces, I try to capture some of the beauty and clarity of ragtime's rhythmic and harmonic aesthetics, and place them in a more contemporary big band context. These short musical statements are not intended to be direct transcriptions or representations of ragtime pieces (which were predominantly written for piano), but rather new contextualizations of this unique musical tradition based on my own reactions and interpretations of it.                     
– George Behrakis

CJ Schrieber | Once in a While

Program note

A song about a person.                                                                                   
– CJ Schrieber

Allan Holdsworth (arr. Carles Pereira) | 0274

J. Edward Britton | Miniques

Annalise Stalls | In a Beautiful // Universe

Program note

In a Beautiful Parallel Universe is the third movement of a suite inspired by the visual artwork of American artist, Trenton Doyle Hancock. It is about Mounds vs. Vegans. Mounds are furry black and white striped creatures that speak through colors. They live rooted in the ground surrounded by trees in a forest which protects them from the Vegans. While Mounds get bigger and bigger, Vegans are obsessed with getting smaller and smaller. Vegans see the Mounds as a threat to their purity, and they are always plotting to destroy Mound-kind. The Vegans are colorblind, bony, ossified creatures that have been banished from living above ground and must live in the sewer and only eat tofu. Vegans sometimes break out of the sewer and attack the Mounds to steal their ‘mound meat.’ At some point in time, a progressive Vegan realizes that they can simply take hits of ‘mound meat’ and see the world in color without harming the Mounds, so for a moment, the Vegans and Mounds coexist in harmony. This narrative is cyclical, and you will hear recurring themes in the music.
– Annalise Stalls

Seulah Noh | Hear the Light

Program note

This piece is dedicated to everybody in the world who keeps fighting for freedom and rights, from their respective positions such as different races, classes, genders or cultures they came from.                            
– Seulah Noh

Personnel

Woodwinds

Harry Pershing, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
Annalise Stalls, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
Joseph Borsellino, tenor saxophone, flute
Garrett Frees, tenor saxophone, clarinet
Nick Biagini, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet

Trumpets and Flugelhorns

Mark Tipton
Daniel Hirsch
Simone Trovato
Lemuel Marc

Trombones

Joey Dies
Michael Gerace
Aiden Coleman
Quinn McGillis

Thatcher Harrison, guitar
Eleanor Pruneau, piano
Misha Bjerken, double bass
Carles Pereira, drums